Rationalizing two-tiered choice functions through conditional choice

Set-valued choice functions provide a framework that is general enough to encompass a wide variety of theories that are significant to the study of rationality but, at the same time, offer enough structure to articulate consistency conditions that can be used to characterize some of the theories within this encompassed variety. Nonetheless, two-tiered choice functions, such as those advocated by Isaac Levi, are not easily characterized within the framework of set-valued choice functions. The present work proposes conditional choice functions as the proper carriers of synchronic rationality. The resulting framework generalizes the familiar one mentioned above without emptying it and, moreover, provides a natural setting for two-tiered choice rules.     

Internal reinstatement hides cuing effects in source memory tasks

Reinstating source details at test often has no impact on source memory. We tested the proposition that participants internally reinstate source cues when such cues are not provided by the experimenter, thus making the external cues redundant. Participants studied words paired with either a male or a female face and were later asked to specify the gender of the face studied with each word. To disrupt the ability to internally reinstate sources, some participants saw eight male faces and eight female faces throughout the study list (multiple-face condition), making it difficult to determine which face should be internally reinstated for uncued test trials. Other participants saw only a single face for each gender (single-face condition), which should facilitate internal reinstatement. Across three experiments, participants in the multiple-face condition showed improved source discrimination when the studied faces were reinstated at test, as compared to uncued trials. In contrast, participants in the single-face condition showed no effect of the face cues. Moreover, the cuing effect for the multiple-face condition disappeared when the test structure facilitated internal reinstatement. Overall, the experiments support the contention that internal reinstatement is a natural part of source retrieval that can mask the effects of external cues.     

Sugar,Spice, and Street Codes: The Influences of Gender and Family Attachment on Street Code Adoption

Elijah Anderson's (1999 Anderson , Elijah. 1999 . Code of the Street . New York : W.W. Norton . [Google Scholar]) Code of the Street thesis argues that joblessness, alienation, structural disadvantage, and black status converge to explain higher rates of violence among African-American, inner-city males. Few studies examine whether a similar phenomenon extends to females. Additionally, few studies investigate how family attachment affects belief in an oppositional culture that Anderson calls “street codes.” Using data from the National Youth Survey, the present study addresses these issues by examining whether boys actually embrace street codes more than girls, whether family attachment reduces the likelihood of street code adoption for both boys and girls, and whether the magnitude of the effect of family attachment on street code adoption differs between boys and girls. Ordinary least squares regression results indicate that boys embrace street codes more than girls, but a substantial number of females embrace them as well. Moreover, family attachment reduces street code adoption for both girls and boys.     

Kitcher,mathematics, and naturalism

This paper argues that Philip Kitcher's epistemology of mathematics, codified in his Naturalistic Constructivism, is not naturalistic on Kitcher's own conception of naturalism. Kitcher's conception of naturalism is committed to (i) explaining the correctness of belief-regulating norms and (ii) a realist notion of truth. Naturalistic Constructivism is unable to simultaneously meet both of these commitments.     

A case study approach to support needs following the death of a loved one

Abstract

The loss of a close relational partner, whether a family member, friend, spouse, or romantic partner, is one of the most difficult, and at the same time predictable, situations that individuals can experience. Although the grieving process is very individual, one's support network can either facilitate or hinder the coping process. This article utilizes a case study approach to consider the ways that one's social network provides emotional and instrumental support following the death of a close relational partner. A 21-year-old female whose fiance was killed in a traffic accident participated in three separate interviews at 4, 9, and 16 months after the accident. Interpretive analyses support the assertion that, as individuals progress through the various phases of bereavement, their needs for specific forms of social support change, as do their perceptions of what is helpful and unhelpful.     

Understanding the Individual Cognitive Potential of Persons with Intellectual Disability in Workshops for Adapted Work

We aimed at using simple judgments of event segmentation to reveal cognitive problems in workers with intellectual disability regarding their assembly performance. We investigated event perception and assembly performance in 32 workers (mean IQ = 64.4). First, we assessed their ability to segment activity into meaningful events. The task involved segmenting four videos in coarse and fine events. We assessed event segmentation performance and compared it to 30 controls (IQ > 100). The workers detected fewer event boundaries than controls. A subgroup of the workers (12 of 32) defined more event boundaries in the coarse than the fine condition, indicating misconception of higher‐ and lower‐level content. The remaining 20 workers showed diminished hierarchical alignment compared to controls. Second, workers executed a Lego task. Better event segmentation performance was associated with enhanced assembly performance. These results suggest that the event segmentation task can serve as a diagnostic assessment for cognitive potential.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schemas Mediate the Link Between Procrastination and Depression: Results from the United States and Pakistan

The current study extended the Procrastination-Health model by examining a multiple mediation model, with two cognitive schemas (defectiveness; insufficient self-control) serving as mediators. The models were as follows: procrastination → defectiveness → depression; procrastination → insufficient self-control → depression. Participants included 412 (271 women, 141 men) United States (US) and 240 (107 women, 133 men) Pakistani college students, who responded via self-report questionnaires. In the US sample, results revealed a non-significant direct effect between procrastination and depression after consideration for the two cognitive schemas, suggesting the schemas completely mediated the model. Both defectiveness and insufficient self-control schemas were significant individual mediators. In the Pakistani model, results revealed a significant direct effect and indirect effect through the two cognitive schemas, indicating partial mediation. Only the indirect path through defectiveness schemas was significant in the Pakistani model. Given slight differences in the two models, a moderated-mediation model was analyzed to determine if the strength of the direct and indirect effects varied by nationality. The strength of the direct and indirect effects was not moderated by nationality. Overall, this is the first study to identify cognitive mediators in the procrastination-depression relationship. Such findings represent a significant extension of the Procrastination-Health model and offer some unique cognitive insights into culturally sensitive conceptualizations and treatments for depression.     

The role of delight in driving repurchase intentions

A channel differentiator for brick-and-mortar retail stores is the availability of salespeople to assist customers directly in their purchase decision. This research considers two aspects of customer interactions with retail salespeople that lead to perceptions of extraordinary service and enhance repurchase intentions: customer comfort and salesperson expertise. Retail customers desire value-added informational assistance from the salesperson to minimize ambiguity associated with the product and to reduce the risk associated with a purchase decision. A retail salesperson needs to make customers feel comfortable so that the customer will share specific needs during the interaction, and the salesperson can recommend appropriate products and services. Our findings reveal that while both customer comfort and salesperson expertise positively influence satisfaction with the salesperson and customer delight, only customer delight leads to repurchase intentions. While satisfaction is a commonly asserted goal for retailers; the present research suggests that in a transaction-based environment, elevated emotions such as customer delight represent a more powerful predictor of repurchase intentions. This research provides evidence of trainable salesperson behaviors that enhance customer perceptions of extraordinary service and offer firms an opportunity for significant performance gains.